Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-02-12
THE VITALITY OF CHINA.

Sudden Rise of the Oriental Nation to =
Place Among the Powers.
The sudden rise of China to placs
among the s'World Powers is by far
the greatest change which this generation
has witnessed in Asiatic politics" 1t is
scarcely yet six years since the great en-
pire stood as much outside the politics of
the world, and especially the politics of
Europe, as if she had belonged to sepa-
rate and distinct planet. A few observ-
ers, it is true, who had noticed recent
events-the expiration of the Panthays,
the erasure of the kingdom of Kashgar
and the determined attitude assumed by
Pekin when demanding the retrocession
of Kuldja by the Russians-had begun to
doubt whether the vitality of China had
not been moderated, but the statesmen
of Europe paid her very little attention.
The dispatch of an ambassador to Europe
was considered rather an absurdity; it
was necessary to protect his suite from
insult in London by some rather sharp
sentences; and the French government,
when it began its experiments in Indo-
China, openly pronounced the Chinese
empire to be une quantite negligeable.
We ourselves delayed carrying out the
treaty of Ten-tsin with certain indif-
ferent incidence, and in central Europe
China was considered an interesting geo.
graphical expression. Within six years
this indifference has completely disap-
peared, and China is now recognized by
all diplomatists as a state of the first i'm
portance, which can exercise direct and
serious influence on almost every great
power.
She stands, in fact in direct contact
with the majority of them. 1t is not too
much to say that the statesmen of Pekin
could overthrow any French ministry by
merely increasing their pressure on Ton
quin and encouraging the Anamese to
attempt an instruction. That is to say,
they could compel the French govern
ment to ask for men and money with
which to defend their Indo- Chinese pos
sessions on a scale which the peasantry
would assuredly not bear, and which,
even if voted, would ALLEVIATE the cham
Der. The Chinese are quite aware of
this fact and are even now striking
blows at France, which exasperates the
foreign office in Paris to the last degree.
The Chinese could in Burmah make
everything difficult for the British gov
ment, which again has every reason to
desire their friendship, not only because
the opium revenue depends upon it, but
because in any great struggle with Russia
the alliance with China might enable us
to effect serious diversion, perhaps to
embarrass the government of st. Peters
burg more than by any direct attack in
the Black sea. The Indian government,
acting in unison with that of China,
would control nearly half the human
race, and could exert a force in Asia
with which even the masses of soldiery
at the disposal of the car would be I'M
able to contend. To Russia, indeed,
China is one of the most formidable of
states, because by an invasion of Man
chooria, or of the territory west of
Kuldja, the Chinese emperor can, at dis
erection, compel st. Petersburgh either to
submit to defeat which would be fol-
lowed by instructions throughout Asiatic
Russia or to forward an army over 5000
miles of an inhospitable country at an
expense which would be ruinous to any
treasury in the world. One can hardly
imagine worse position than that of a
Russian emperor with a European war
on hand, yet compelled to defend his as
cendancy in Tartary against a general
like Tso.
In Paris, London and st. Petersburg,
therefore, the Marquis Tseng is one of
the most honored and influential of
diplomatists, and even in Berlin he is re-
ceived with marked respect, for Prince
Bismarck never forgets that Slav and
German may one day be compelled to
try issue of war; and he has ideas about
ships, colonies and commerce, which
Pekin can materially aid or thwart. In
deed, the influence of China stretches
even beyond Asia and Europe, for Wash
ington is anxious about Chinese trade;
has most delicate questions to settle
about Chinese immigrants.-London
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